Billy Cohen
Name: Billy Cohen Gender: Male Age: 16 Hobbies and Interests: Street Magic, Card Tricks, Sleight of Hand, Card Throwing, Magic History Appearance: Little Billy stands at 5'4 with a whopping weight of 118 pounds. A little on the skinny side, he hides his unassuming physique under woollen jumpers and plain, drab shirts, unknowingly drawing laughs and names from some of the other students. On the day of the kidnapping, he wore a particularly gaudy green and brown-striped jumper over an unremarkable navy shirt which he tucked into his jeans; around the waist of which he wore a simple black leather belt. As for his shoes, he wore a pair so shiny and black that they managed to draw attention away from his other clothes. Luckily for him, his ethnicity was never challenged by the more aggressively-American kids, as it was that he was almost porcelain-white with some of the blondest, curliest hair ever to be found on a boy. This hair would bounce along as he walked on the top of his head, and he liked to keep it a nice, short length to keep himself from looking too similar to Little Bo Beep. His eyes added to his Aryan-like appearance, being shiny and blue, and the eyebrows above it were the same shade as his hair, which stopped people from asking if he dyed it that way. Unfortunately, he had terrible dental problems as a child, and so a fair few of his teeth have been covered with veneers which stand out more prominently when he steps into harsh light. Biography: Born into a well-off household, Billy has never struggled to get by in life. His two parents, Julie-Ann Marie and Kenneth Cohen have enjoyed a consistently pleasant twenty-five years of marital bliss, with the birth of their one and only son only widening their smiles. Deeply patriotic, they brought him up to be a well-mannered and polite young man, whom they believed loved their country as much as they both did. On the contrary, he had very little time for America, as he had bigger things in mind than showing up the neighbours on Announcement Day by baking the best "Americ-o's" and painting their house in the good old Red, White and Blue. No, when he was five years old, and they were sat around the TV together, watching one of those variety shows with the typical cheesy-as-hell acts and performers, Billy first realized his dream. A well-known magician at the time, Curt Lions, stood in the centre of a stage big enough to fit an entire football team on side-to-side, with nothing more than a scarf, a plastic ball, and - he remembered this part especially - a pack of playing cards. No different to any one would find around the home, what he did with them and the applause that followed after were the keys in opening the door to Billy Cohen's future. One day... he would get on that stage. From then on, his interest in the magic arts grew and grew, and once his 7th birthday rolled around, his parents finally caved him and bought him the first of many magic sets he would come to own. He would've practised with every breath if it weren't for school and chores, but like the good little boy he was, he put in as much effort with those as he did with his hobby. The grades he received never slipped below a B throughout his entire school career, showing an aptitude for history, (much to the delight of their unashamedly show-off parents), and the house was impeccably clean at all times. Whenever he wasn't practising "animal magic", that is. Once he'd mastered basic magic, which mostly consisted of sleight of hand, card tricks, hiding coins etc., he began to study old magicians who he read about in books at the local library or watched documentaries about on television. He loved the history of it all - how card magic began, the first people to make it big, all of it, but one person stood out for Billy: Howard Thurston. A stage magician from Columbus, he "had the largest traveling magic show for the time, requiring more than eight entire train cars to transport his props across the country", and made his name with his signature card tricks. Namely, the man was a card-throwing legend, and after careful study and years of trying, Billy actually managed to learn the art of throwing cards; much to his parents' delight. Unsurprisingly, none of these things did him any favours in school, and he soon found himself alienated from the rest of the students who he tried to perform for. After all, what was the point in magic if he couldn't share it with the people around him? But no matter how hard he tried, the others just wouldn't accept him, and soon enough he fell into place with the rest of his year, as the weird kid nobody paid attention to. At least he didn't get picked on though, which he knew was a good thing. He wasn't foreign like some of the less fortunate kids, and although he didn't join in when the taunting began, he made no effort to defend them, either. By all accounts, there was no real point to him there; just another, albeit strange, face in the crowd, getting by as best he could without incident. As such, he doesn't have a single person to call his friend, and though his parents insist that they're all the friends a boy would need at his age, he couldn't help but long for a much less suburban life, of white-picket fences and neatly-cut hedges. The boy only wanted to show the world what he grown up doing and all the things the tricks he could learn by travelling to places outside his parents' precious States. Of course, not wanting to upset them, he hasn't told them of his future plans; it's safe to assume that they wouldn't quite approve of raising a son named "The Great Card Bandit". Advantages: Not one for confrontation, Billy won't be the kid shooting down everyone he meets. As a result, he'll generally try and get on the good side of everyone he meets, and attempt to build a strong bond with anyone who gives him the time. Disadvantages: Known for his quiet demeanour and quite peculiar behaviour (read: manners), he's a sure-fire target for someone wanting an easy target. Without the body for, or the experience of combat, he'd get flattened in a fight, and his desperation to please others could work against him. Designated Number: Male Student #25 ---- Designated Weapon: Cavalry Saber Conclusion: M25 lacks the muscle and skill to make effective use of his weapon. Combined with his unpopularity, he likely won't go far unless he manages to deceive his way into an advantageous position. The above biography is as written by Hallucinogenic. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made. Evaluations Kills: Killed by: Allies: Enemies: Mid-Game Evaluation: Post-Game Evaluation: Memorable Quotes: Other/Trivia *While Billy was submitted and approved for The Program, and added to the roster, Hallucinogenic, citing lack of time to do the character justice, withdrew him. His spot is now filled by a blank thread marked "error". Billy may appear in some future Mini or AU. Presumably, the spot for M25 was originally assigned to some student who did not show up on Announcement Day; this makes sense, as the frequency of this occurrence was cited as the reason for picking extra students for this season. Threads Below is a list of threads that contain Billy, in chronological order. Your Thoughts Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Billy. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here. *Billy had a lot of pontetial, especially given Stef's very consistent writing. That said, I'm mostly commenting here to note how cool it is to see a handler withdraw a character rather than soldier on knowing they don't have the time or interest to do anything other than a mediocre job. That's worthy of praise. - MurderWeasel Category:Characters Category:Program Characters Category:The Program